The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I’s Dream

The White Ship is just an amazing piece of art if you ask me. The way history is generally taught is so pedagogic and pedantic. Whereas, The While Ship is just a racing animal of history that is so fast-paced and gripping that it reads like a Jeffrey Archer or a John Grisham. Add to that the fact that the book is about real history and real events as they have actually occurred, without any exaggeration or unwanted emotional alliteration. While I did already know a fair bit about this part of British history i.e. the period between the arrival of William the Conqueror and the beginning of the Plantagenet reign, I had absolutely no idea that so many incredible and unbelievable events of power manoeuvres, regime changes and political struggle took place within such a brief period of time. What adds to the mysticism of the book is that the author i.e. the 9th Earl Charles Spencer belongs to a line of English aristocracy that is deeply rooted in the country’s history and he is a man of particular passion of his past and his country’s culture. Such deep passion and enamour for the tales of the past and the great men and women that have lived shines through in almost every page of the book. The book also sheds important light upon the massive ideological changes that were taking place in the English society of the day with starkly contrasting characters such as the ideal King Henry the First and his predecessor or elder brother King Rufus or the immensely tolerated and adulated masculine authoritativeness of such male kings and the unfairly shunned upon aggressiveness of Queen Matilda merely because of her gender. It also offers several lessons that a reader could take away and apply to his/her own life. For instance, it is from King Henry the Second and his grandfather King Henry the First, I learned that power that is earned is valued and retained much better than the power that is merely inherited. I have been rather greatly inspired by Queen Matilda and her husband from Anjou, Geoffrey’s peculiar and unwavering resilience in their unending efforts to resume England from the unjust rule of King Stephen. I have found this to be a rare piece of literature that caters to every history buff’s need for consuming stories of the past without having to succumb to the usually inevitable boredom and unnecessarily verbose discourses. I do however have to say that the ending is rather abrupt especially because the author had an opportunity to exploit the incredibly poignant story by revving up so much emotion to invite the reader into a much grander conclusion. In any case, The While Ship is an absolute gem of a book that I feel I am very lucky to have found.

Lecture très intéressante pour qui aime l'Histoire.

Brand new condition, has a newly printed aroma. Arrived on time.

L'autore ha svolto un lavoro di ricerca molto ampio e la narrazione è fluida.

- This brilliant book is like an historically accurate version of ‘games of thrones’. The book begins with telling the story of the kings of England up into Henry II. Henry was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and following unfortunate incidences that happened to his three elder brothers, he became king. Having felt that he had enough troubles with his siblings, he married Matilda and ended up having one son and one daughter and then continued sleeping with everyone else. - When people refer to the fact that current times have never been so bad at the current moment, these people need to read more history books. So here might be a plot for Game of Thrones, a bastard king from another empire overthrows the king of another Empire, who is only just thought of Scandinavian Viking Warriors. The king is killed and a new king takes his place, has at least four legitimate children, of whom the youngest eventually becomes king leaving his dying brother who should be the current ruler mortally wounded in a forest. The king sired 22 illegitimate children and two children who are heirs to the throne. Sadly, the one who was meant to be king, dies in a drunken shipping incident in which all but one die. In-between this are a range of battles and torturous deaths, including one where ravens pick out the eyes of a man who has been gorged but left alive to be killed by the ravens. There’s head, arms chopped off, heads chopped off, through people’s heads. Eventually a new king is brought to the head of the state, as no one wanted the remaining, legitimate childish who was a woman, so more battles insure and what is known as ‘The Anarchy’ and England’s first Civil War takes hold of the country until pretty much everyone is dead or has made allegiances for their children to become future kingdoms of the Empire unknown only to God in their actions. Only this isn’t a plot from Game of Thrones, it is much more exciting and it’s a story of Henry II, son of William the Conqueror, and subsequent Kings who end up fighting a Civil War and war with other empires (mainly the French). - The son was known as William, and this tells the story of how Henry II became a ruler with the knowledge that his one son William would become heir to the throne. However, following an unfortunate and rather drunken incident at sea, William would lose his life in the shipwreck that shouldn’t have happened if everyone hadn’t got so drunk, and this then tells the story of what happens following that incident. Henry who had already had 22 illegitimate children as well as the two children that were rightful heirs to the throne, he fought many battles, chopped off people’s heads and hands as deemed appropriate at the time. There is a cast of characters, and I sometimes did get lost on who was who, especially with so many Henrys and Williams around but luckily many of them do have nicknames, so you can tell the difference. It’s a thrilling account of a piece of history that I knew very little about and I feel a little bit more learned knowing all this history and it’s an exciting read. - Henry II eventually died by eating a suffice of lamprey (which are ancient water creatures with a passing resemblance to eels, they have no jaws, instead sucking on their prey before ingestion what they take in through a throat bristling with teeth” and despite their ugliness and inherent dangers they were much praised in woollen aristocracy for their rich and meaty flesh. - It’s a thrilling ride and someone should really make this into her television service because it would be fascinating, and I think even more interesting than Game of Thrones (which I must admit I’ve never seen). as I said, if you think the current times are hard, this would be a good history book to read to rectify that error in judgement of thought.

A history deep-divers delight! Spencer's excellent narrative raised to the power of Kindle-enabled search made the read a two-week real-time history lesson. It's super value for money. Spencer's scholarship and references are the highlights. Loved it! I plan biz itineraries around historical time slices. I've frankly mostly missed this period in my walkabouts. One reason is that so few landmarks and references exist. For me, one glaring example was referenced here, Rhuddlan Castle. I had a biz reason to be in Rhyl, Wales. As I understood, the castle is attributed as a 'second-class' construct in Edward I castle terms. I'm Edward I castle era toured out. So, I skipped the Rhuddlan Castle visit. Spencer reveals my mistake. It was a stronghold player in the Angevin era and was "rebuilt" by Edward I. Another 'for instance', Westminster palace is wholly gone. The White Tower, which most believe survives from the Conqueror, was extensively modified over the ages. Only the chapel remains original. The Roman walls on which it was built a thousand years before seem more extraordinary. The Kindle searching rabbit trails drive deeper into Angevin Europe. Definitely a fresh spin on French and English history about to diverge dramatically. Perhaps it's that France even survived is the highlight. It turns Spencer's history into a modern travelogue. Spencer has provided a new itinerary for the history tourista ... I have mine sketched out. But, unlike far more ancient sites, finding the Brit, Norman, and common French past is daunting. Only shadow exists to evidence the whole. With the limited extant shreds of evidence and worse, no story at all for 99% of those who dwelt, I've decided that the Dark Age term pretty much sums it up. Does one wonder why the White Ship era comes to us so faintly? Henry I's tenuous rise to power and succession failure seems singularly the most important event for the everyman and a far worse social upheaval than the Norman conquest. The Anarchy that followed plunged the island into a fresh mini-Dark Age every bit as grim as theologian-biased Pagan tales of circa 600-750 (though more recent archaeology suggests otherwise). The Great Anarchy comparatively, socially, geographically, and politically seems to dwarf the earlier Viking era's effects on the island's trajectory. The times are so stark and forbidding, that perhaps it was best forgotten from collective memory, expunged. Better to imagine the Plantagenets and forget the Anarchy of the Angevins? Spencer's handful of voices wrote of kings. Spencer puts real meat on the contemporary's skeleton. Spencer uses the original era place names ... so many changed over the next 100 years that zooming in precisely to the times and places reveals yet another layer to the tale. Made me rethink assumptions. P.s. Buyer reviews influence my buying decisions. I know I rely on them, particularly in the deep-diving history genre. If my review is helpful, please click helpful and let me know. It's reviewer feedback that improves the quality of reviews.